


Once Upon a Crime

by Cornerofmadness



Series: Boston [5]
Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Found Family, Gen, Team Bonding, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:33:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23658421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cornerofmadness/pseuds/Cornerofmadness
Summary: Gil hopes a quiet night and a good meal will help the team bond.
Relationships: JT Tarmel/Tally Tarmel
Series: Boston [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1642066
Comments: 17
Kudos: 58
Collections: Bite Sized Bits of Fic from 2020





	Once Upon a Crime

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Evil_Little_Dog](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evil_Little_Dog/gifts), [kiramaru7](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiramaru7/gifts).



> **Disclaimer:** Not mine, Chris Fedak and Sam Sklaver owns it
> 
> **Notes:** written for evil_little_dog for the prompt of Prodigal Son, Any+Any or team You haven't heard of the Mercury Killer? and for kiramaru7 who gave me the idea of how to work in my Get Your Words out Yahtzee prompt of velvety

XXX

“You haven't heard of the Mercury Killer?” The absolute shock in Malcolm’s voice almost made Gil laugh. He’d invited the team over along with Edrisa and Jessica for dinner at his place. Ainsley couldn’t make it. He thought it might be a good bonding exercise for them now that JT and Dani seemed to have warmed to the kid. Edrisa had been sold from the moment she clapped eyes on Malcolm, surprising the hell out Gil. He never expected the immediate crush. He took an experimental taste of the chicken adobe he had on the stove. Perfect. Malcolm would eat that. He’d had to craft the whole dinner with one little touchy stomach in mind. Also, he should have laid odds on how fast the conversation would turn to murder.

“It was one of the first cases my father ever told me about,” Malcolm continued.

From her seat at the kitchen island next to Tally who was playing with one of Gil’s cats using the laser light, Jessica rolled her eyes. “ _That’s_ what they talked about? I should never have let him go!”

Gil said nothing. They both knew that Malcolm’s various therapists had agreed he needed to talk to his father but neither of them had ever agreed with the medical experts.

“She was one of the rare true serial killer types. Most female serial killers use poisons and often do it for the money, inheritance, insurance that sort of thing but Lita Williams was truly disassociated from reality. She was convinced alchemy was real and mercury is very important in the art of transformation. Mercury, sulfur and salt were Earth’s three principal substances,” Malcolm expounded, obviously enraptured with the subject.

“Oh, so representing the trinity. Is that why she injected them with mercury? To transform them?” Edrisa bounced on her seat.

Malcolm nodded frantically, beaming at her. “Exactly, it’s part of the purification every substance has to go through to achieve the magnum opus.”

JT leaned toward Dani and said in a stage whisper. “Figures she knows what he’s talking about.”

Dani snorted.

Malcolm shot them a look. “Also Mercury is part of the Hermes Trismegistus, the god who created alchemy.” 

“At least according to the Western world. In the east it’s interwoven with Taoism especially in China,” Edrisa interrupted. “His symbol is considered the cosmic womb in alchemy, isn’t it?”

“Yes, exactly, Edrisa!” Malcolm practically glowed he was so happy to have someone know what he was talking about. “And to further the feminine image that Mercury embodies, it’s a water element, sort of that amniotic flow of fluid.”

“And you just made this a thousand times weirder.” JT shuddered.

“It’s not weird,” Edrisa defended Malcolm. “The feminine is often associated with blood and water.”

Jessica looked over her shoulder at him as he stirred the coconut rice. “I thought he liked Dani. She seems so good with him but…” She indicated Edrisa with a tilt of her head. “Is she my most likely candidate for a daughter in law?”

Gil chuckled as did Tally. “She would probably faint if he actually acted on any of her flirting.”

“I think I need a drink.”

Gil walked into the den and came back with two shot glasses and the best scotch he owned. He poured them both a shot. He knew Tally wasn’t drinking. The whisky slipped down his throat smoky and velvety and tasted like he might need another when Edrisa added, “And there’s the Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang who was buried surrounded by a moat of quicksilver in the belief it would make him immortal but just made his tomb too toxic to fully explore.”

“And that’s what Lita was after in a way. Of course a lot of alchemy gets press for the making of lead into gold but she was after something more elusive and important, the elixir of life, the Philosopher’s Stone,” Malcolm said, roaming the living room in full professorial lecture mode.

“Oh, like in Harry Potter,” Dani said.

“Yes. Nicholas Flamel wasn’t a Rowling invention. He was a real alchemist, and Lita had many references to him. However, it was another important alchemist, Paracelsus, who said ‘For Mercury is the spirit, sulfur is the soul, and salt is the body.’ Mercury is considered a bridge for moving spirit from one vessel to the next, and Lita was trying to make her victims into Philosopher’s Stones.” Malcolm threw his arms wide, more excited about this than anything Gil had seen him take an interest in in a while. With a heavy sigh, Jess pointed to her shot glass, and he topped it off.

“But didn’t she have sex with her victims prior to killing them?” Dani asked.

Malcolm nodded. “But that was part of the ritual you see. Mercury is killed in the physical union, representing the death of the ego, thus freeing the alchemist. It’s all part of the tantric tradition, which if you’ve ever studied it, it’s amazingly erotic,” he said leaving little doubt he’d studied it. Jessica shook her head at her child.

“I’d love to study it,” Edrisa said breathlessly, her pupils so dilated as she stared at the kid, nothing was left of their rich brown irises. 

Malcolm, of course, was too busy staring at Dani when he said that to notice Edrisa. Gil decided a third shot of the velvety scotch was in order. This was going to be the most bizarre love triangle ever to exist even if half of them were clueless it even existed. He refilled Jess’s shooter without her asking.

“Of course, the tantric alchemists also ritually consumed the sexual fluids,” Malcolm said.

“I’m going to stop you there!” JT threw up a hand. “Before you start in with explaining how amazingly erotic that is.”

Malcolm glowered. “It can be. Anyhow, Lita would then inject her victims with mercury to extract their spirit and she was trying to place it inside of hunks of labradorite for later use to keep her forever young and immortal.”

“Where would she get that much mercury?” Dani asked, and JT nudged her. 

“Don’t encourage him!”

“That’s how they ended up catching her. This wasn’t like in the older days when my father or Gil were kids,” Malcolm said, completely missing the glare Gil fired at the back of his head.

“At least he left you off the old list,” Tally whispered to Jessica.

“He _knows_ better.” Jessica waved her off.

“How old does he think I am?” Gil huffed.

“Mercury isn’t in thermometers or anything but Lita was a chemist and had access. It was a matter of running down labs purchasing large quantities of mercury and cross referencing it with those purchasing syringes.” Malcolm shrugged. “You really never heard of this? You don’t find this fascinating?” He asked that directly of JT.

“I do,” Edrisa said needlessly.

“I’m not weird like you two,” JT replied. “Or your dad.”

“Don’t be an ass, JT,” Dani said as Edrisa shot him a look made of distilled venom.

“You tell him, Dani!” Tally laughed.

“Okay, enough serial killer talk. Dinner’s ready,” Gil said. “Tally, can you get the lumpia out of the toaster oven please? Everyone just grab a plate and we’ll do this buffet style. I have leche flan for dessert that I made and I picked up some bibingka for dessert as well.” Usually the glutinous rice flour pudding was for breakfast but Gil figured they wouldn’t know the difference, and he knew he could get some of it into Malcolm. He just didn’t have the skill or patience to line the pot with banana leaves and make it from scratch.

“What should we talk about?” Tally asked, taking the Filipino version of spring rolls out of the toaster oven and she set them on a trivet.

“I say you pick the topic, Tally,” Malcolm invited.

“Me?”

“Sure. Some dubious choices aside,” he swept a hand at JT who scowled. “You have good taste.”

Tally beamed. “Why thank you. You’re so sweet.”

Malcolm ducked his head shyly as JT snorted, picking up a plate. “No, you’re confusing crazy with sweet.”

Tally plucked his plate out of his hands. “For that you go to the end of the line.”

Once they were settled at the table, talking about traveling – to which Gil suspect Tally was angling for an invite to the Hamptons, which she was likely to get – he allowed himself to relax. Malcolm was actually eating and looking happy. Jessica picked at the adobe trying to decide if she liked the marriage of garlic, soy and vinegar as he was sure she’d never had Filipino food before in spite of his and Jackie’s attempts to get her to try it in the past. This was what he always wanted his team to be: a family and tonight he was getting his wish. He should cook for everyone more often.


End file.
